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The Makings of History / A century before Obama and McCain By Tom Segev Tags: Israel News  William Jennings Bryan was a great speaker. Indeed, some people consider him the greatest orator of his generation. Three times he was the Democratic candidate for the presidency of the United States and three times he failed, but in 1908 he was responsible for the first debate between candidates to be recorded. Bryan read his views on various issues into Thomas Edison's recording cylinders and sent them to his supporters. His opponent, Republican Party candidate William Howard Taft, hastened to do the same, and all around America the cylinders were played in sequence and discussed by people. In New York, a suitable backdrop was even put up for them: two podiums swathed in the American flag, and on them the speakers' busts, cast in wax. One hundred years later one can listen to the two men's voices in a renewed recording, recently issued by Archeophone Records. The quality is very good, and some of the things that are said are fascinating because they sound as though they were taken from the televised debates held between the current presidential candidates, Senator John McCain of Arizona and Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. Advertisement Bryan expressed views that are amazingly dovish - in Israeli terms as well. The "territories" whose future was being debated back then were the Philippine islands; it had been only a decade since they were conquered from the Spanish. The new American occupiers were initially welcomed as liberators, but it was not long before they encountered resistance, including acts of terror. In one of his recorded debates with Taft, Bryan asserted that a republic cannot rule over a foreign people. When he said "republic," he meant what is meant today by the word "democracy." The United States could not deprive the inhabitants of the Philippines of civil rights, he believed, and it had no interest in granting them American citizenship: It already had enough racial problems to deal with without the Philippines. Colonialism, asserted Bryan, only weakened American society: "Instead of profit, it has brought loss. Instead of strength, it has brought weakness. Instead of glory, it has brought humiliation. It has more than doubled our standing army, and there is talk of further increase." Republican candidate Taft was known for his vision of establishing world peace, although he believed that the U.S. forces should not be withdrawn from the Philippines. Before that country received independence, he held, it was necessary to establish self-rule there. To this end, the Christian religion should be promulgated, something that in Taft's opinion was the moral mission of the United States vis-a-vis the entire world. Taft had previously served as head of the civil administration in the Philippines. He praised the American contribution to the local education and transportation systems, as well as to the enforcement of law and order, arguing that if the troops were brought back home, everything would collapse and the Philippines would become chaotic. Bryan held that all American banks should insure their clients' deposits to prevent the loss of their money should those institutions get in trouble. Taft replied that this would lead to the nationalization of the banks and the ruin of the entire banking system. On other issues, Bryan expressed positions that today would be described as extreme right wing, including the belief in the supremacy of the white race. In 1925 he joined the prosecution in the legendary Scopes Monkey Trial, in Tennessee, concerning the teaching of the Darwinian theory of evolution, where he attempted to prove that everything written in the Bible is the truth. Along with his Christian piety, Bryan was also known for his support for the prohibition of the sale of alcohol. Bryan had an advantage similar to one that Obama has over McCain: He had a pleasant bass voice and his reading was more fluent; his debate recordings are more impressive than his rival's. He was also the first candidate for the U.S. presidency to have traveled from city to city to meet voters. For this he is considered the first of the celebrity candidates, who hoped to be elected thanks to their image. It didn't work, and the 27th president of the United States was William Howard Taft. However, both proved that there is also life after failure: Bryan became the secretary of state in the administration of the next president, Woodrow Wilson; Taft, who did not succeed in getting reelected, became chief justice of the Supreme Court. 'Thou hast said' Several hundred Jerusalemites, nearly all of them secular Jews, most of them no longer young, went on a pilgrimage this week to the church in Abu Ghosh to hear Johann Sebastian Bach's "Saint Matthew Passion." Among the many battles that have raged in the world of Israeli culture, there have been objections to the performance of this work as well, but as at most of the concerts held during the Abu Ghosh Music Festival, the church was full this time, too. The Kibbutz Artzi Choir with soloists and instrumentalists of the Rishon Letzion Symphony Orchestra were accorded tempestuous applause. The conductor was Yuval Ben-Ozer. The whole issue of this particular work by Bach is not to be taken for granted and is ostensibly even somewhat absurd. This is because the libretto of the Passion that Christian Friedrich Henrici (Picander) wrote tells a story that for more than 1,500 years nourished the hatred of Jews: They concoct a diabolical plot to bring about the death of Jesus, and also humiliate and torture him - in bass, alto, soprano and tenor voices, in chorales and recitatives. The Roman governor asks them to have mercy on his life, but they demand that he be crucified, crucified, crucified, as the kibbutzniks sang loudly and from the bottom of their hearts, in German. Millions of Jews paid with their lives because of this story. What, then, were all those good Israelis doing there on the eve of the Sukkot holiday? It was almost certainly not self-hatred that brought them to the church in the Arab village outside Jerusalem, but rather Bach's genius: The Passion uplifts the soul. Unfortunately the music cannot be separated from its Christian contents, and Christianity - how can this be put gently? - does not love Jews. Over the years, all kinds of magic verbal and theological formulas have been found for Jewish-Christian rapprochement. However, reading the words of the Passion on a day when one of the heads of the Vatican was demanding the removal of a caption on the wall at Yad Vashem about Pope Pius XII's failure to save victims of the Nazis during the Holocaust, leaves no room for doubt: As long as the Jews have not acknowledged the truth of Christianity, they are irredeemable. This was also the reason Pius XII did not do everything he could have done to save more Jews, and also the reason the present pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI, wants to make him a saint. Hundreds of millions of people all over the world are liable to learn from his canonization that Pius acted correctly when he preferred the political and economic interests of his empire to saving Jews. It would have been better had the current German-born pope tried to motivate his followers to reject genocide and racism - phenomena that, after the Holocaust, God has still not eradicated in the world. If at the moment the pope does not have enough candidates for canonization, Yad Vashem can suggest a number of devout Catholics who endangered their lives in order to save Jews. The Catholic Church thinks in terms of eternity, but no disaster will ensue if the decision on the canonization of Pius XII is deferred for 100 years. Who knows? Maybe by then the archives that the Vatican is refusing to open to research will have been unlocked, and at long last the terrible secret of Pius that the Church has been concealing so zealously will be revealed. At present, the Vatican has an interest in maintaining good relations with the State of Israel, and Israel has an interest in good relations with the Vatican. This is not only because Europe is filling up with Muslims, but also because Israel can help the Vatican and can hurt it, and the Vatican can also help Israel and hurt it. The Vatican's intentions to continue with the process of the canonization of Pius should not therefore spoil the relations between the two states, just as the people who went to the church in Abu Ghosh did not let Picander's text spoil Bach's music for them. And if the pope says that Pius XII is a saint, one can say to him what Jesus replied to the high priest, who asked him if he was the Messiah (Matthew 26:63): "Thou hast said." Bookmark to del.icio.us   Damaging remarks Right-wing MK Lieberman says Egyptian president Mubarak can "go to hell." Joe on Israel Overnight media sensation says Obama presidency would spell "death of Israel."

Read & React Lieberman: Mubarak can 'go to hell'; Peres, Olmert apologize Responses: 138 Meron Benvenisti: Peres Center training Palestinians to accept Jewish superiority Responses: 48 Barak cuts services to outposts in response to settler violence Responses: 63 Ari Shavit: The next government will not bring Israel to peace Responses: 38 More Headlines 20:07 Survey: U.S. absentee voters in Israel back McCain over Obama by 3-1 18:04 France strongly denies Sarkozy criticized Obama stance on Iran 20:03 UN Chief urges Hezbollah to turn from milita to political party 18:27 Mayoral candidate vows to build 10,000 homes in East Jerusalem 18:43 Israel sets Feburary 10 as date for general elections 18:23 Jewish delegate to Vatican: Pope ignored request to freeze Pius XII sainthood 18:41 Hamas frees 17 Fatah prisoners as 'goodwill' ahead of unity talks 15:21 Have Israeli archaeologists found world's oldest Hebrew inscription? 18:45 VIDEO / Syrian riot police encircle U.S. embassy as thousands protest raid 13:32 MKs mull umbrella party to represent all Israeli Arabs 20:11 VIDEO / Women mayoral candidates from Arab, Haredi sectors challenge a male domain 15:24 Report: Tycoon Donald Trump's daughter converting to Judaism 16:46 Higher education crisis ends as Olmert orders NIS 515 million budget hike Previous Editions Select Day 29 oct 28 oct 27 oct 26 oct 24 oct 23 oct 22 oct 21 oct 20 oct 19 oct 17 oct 16 oct

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